Demigods (32 page)

“Tell me where she is, Ground Control!” Sky Two shouted from his location on the observation deck. “I don’t see anyone.”

This was a bit scary, since he should have seen her with the goggles he was wearing, even if she was hiding behind something. At this, he tore them off, and tossed them to the floor, for now they were only a burden.

“I still have no sight of her,” the Corporal replied. “It’s as though she isn’t even there.”

He had motion detectors, and heat sensitive cameras everywhere, and he was greatly puzzled by how she could evade him. Ghost would have been a good description for her, because she was there a moment ago, yet now she was gone.

Sky Two continued to scan the deck, as he traveled around its circumference, while fear began to creep into his mind, as well. Thomas, or Sky One, as he was referred to on this mission, was his closest friend, and he was down. He needed to find him, while still trying to find the target, and the task, as slowly as it was proceeding, was exhausting.

“Found him,” he finally stated, still ever watchful of the target. “Is she anywhere near me?”

“Negative,” came the reply. “I have nothing.”

Carefully, he crept up to him. They were old friends, who had spent two tours in Afghanistan, on a spec ops unit, but now they used their skills for a price. Mercs they were called, though in reality, they were just brothers in arms, without the cold gaze of Uncle Sam looking over their shoulders. Now they used the training that they were given, to make a living, and who could argue with that?

“He’s alive,” he said with great relief, before the floor opened up, and Sky Two began to fall to the Earth, from a height that could have been miles, which started his screaming.

“Believe nothing,” Viper tried to tell him, yet he was hardly listening.

“She’s right behind you!” Jenkins blurted out, but it was far too late.

Suddenly, Sky Two had found the sleep that his friend was now in.

“It seems that your girl is a little better than you thought,” the Colonel said with a smile. “Care to get me out of here now, since I am so important to you?”

“I could have done this without any of you,” she said, as she pushed Anthony’s corpse aside, and sat down across from him. “I just wanted you to understand where you stood, once it is over.”

Viper had calculated everything very well, just as they had taught her. She needed to think as many moves ahead as possible, and that is exactly what she was doing. She had gained control of the Mastro family, before Anthony ever knew it, and now she had her eyes set on the United States government. How fortunate she felt, having fallen into such a circumstance.

“Security,” she spoke into her earpiece, “get here now.”

The Colonel felt a little confident, considering what he had observed already.

“She’s going to kill you.”

Viper laughed, before standing again, and then walking back towards the kitchen.

“That’s her weakness, Colonel,” she blurted out, without turning. “She doesn’t believe in killing,”

The two men that used to be Anthony’s personal bodyguards, stood silent beside the Colonel. They were not exactly mercs, but both had the training as well. They just so happened to be a part of the family, for a very long time, but Viper’s persuasion was great. They had no idea that it was of the unnatural sort.

“Do you guys have any idea what you are up against?” the colonel asked.

Neither replied.

*            *            *

The two men on the elevator were simple thugs, but one was quite different than the other. His name was Michael, and he was an informant for the FBI, and though he had no time to tell them what was going to be happening here, he was certainly taking notes.

“What the hell could Anthony need us for, in the Space Needle,” he asked, “especially at this time of night?”

Jonny, who was someone on the lower rungs of the ladder, aspired to be more, and understood that asking questions was not the best way to get there.

“Inviting us to dinner,” he sarcastically replied. “What else could it be?”

As the elevator chimed, Jonny pulled his pistol, and placed it to Michael’s temple.

“Now walk,” he demanded, as the informant instinctively raised his hands.

“I haven’t done anything,” he said, which is the same thing that most guilty men would say, while still following the order. Someone who was blameless would have asked what it was about, first.

“Just shut up, and move your feet.”

He did so, and as he reached the table, where he saw Anthony hunched over, curiosity was no longer an emotion. Now, his emotion was nothing more than fear, for he could smell the death in the air, and he was the one that had a gun pointed at his head. Now, there was hopelessness.

“Shut up, and wait.”

Mark was the third security guard, and taking the steps took a little more time, but he finally reached the restaurant entrance. He was a little heavy, and slightly out of breath, but he had finally made it. Why would he even be assigned to such a task, he wondered.

Stepping into the dining area, he had no idea what was going on, until he spotted his brother, with a gun to his head. He was always the fool, and Mark had done everything that he could to keep him out of trouble, not only when they were young, but in his adult life as well. Now he was beginning to believe that the entire night was about Michael’s own problems, and he was trying to find the words that might save him, this time, as he approached.

“What the hell have you done now, brother?”

“I didn’t do anything.” which was still the natural response of a guilty man.

“He’s been talking to the FBI,” Viper replied, having sauntered back into the dining area, “and I want you to kill him.”

At this, Mark didn’t know what to do. If it were true, he should do as he was told, but it was his brother. He raised his pistol, out of anger, but pulling the trigger was a much more difficult task. This was his kin. It was his brother, and he had protected him for so very long, yet Michael had committed the ultimate sin. Nonetheless, he could not do it.

“Would you mind,” Viper asked in an almost playful nature, “if I did it myself?”

Mark thought about it for a moment, but the only answer that he realized would keep one of them alive was simple, and so he nodded his head.

At this, Viper launched a steel spike at his head, and he fell, lifeless, to the floor.

“Now, get ready, because she is about to enter,” she stated as she turned to move back towards the kitchen, “and no one had better harm her, or I will kill you, myself.”

She understood that none of them stood a chance at doing so, but she wasn’t one to not cover all possibilities, and as she reached the monitors that she had set up in the kitchen, she knew that her calculations were correct. Mirage was already approaching them, and they had no idea that she was even there, but Viper waited to see how she dealt with the scenario.

There were four men dead, and five still living (not including the others, in different locations), and Viper wondered how her sister would respond. Mirage was the one that they had nurtured. Mirage was the one that was treated well, while she, herself, was being tortured.

Certainly, Viper didn’t blame her, for they would have never let her know exactly what they were doing, and even with her pampered treatment, Mirage ran away. Obviously, they were more alike than either would even admit.

The truth was, however, Mirage knew exactly what they were doing, and that is why she left. She didn’t have the heart to end it, because that would have meant taking Viper’s life, and that was something that they could never force upon her.

Suddenly, all who were still alive, began to run to one side of the dining area, screaming as they did so. Viper could have easily figured out what they were seeing, so when one yelled out “fire”, it came as no surprise. The only thing that bothered her, was the fact that Mirage was close enough to sense her, yet was not attempting to mess with her mind, as well.

Certainly, Viper had a meditation technique to deal with her mind control, though she was saving it for a better moment. A moment when all the cards were on the table.

*            *            *

Corporal Jenkins heard a knock at the van’s back door, and it was one that was quite familiar to him. It was Captain Brandon Jacobs, and he was extremely excited to hear it.

“What the hell took you so long?’ Jenkins blurted out, as he opened the door.

Captain Jacobs chose his words carefully.

“You need to withdraw your team.”

“But the Colonel is up there, with an escort,” he replied with a tone of questioning. “We have to support him.”

“There is no one up there, Corporal,” the Captain told him sternly, “now pull your men back, and return to base, for debriefing.”

“But I…”

“You were tricked by a GEO, Corporal. Now do as you were told, unless you submitted those resignation papers yet.”

“Not yet, sir,” he replied, and was glad that the Captain was still on their team. He didn’t understand a word of it, but he was given an order, by a superior officer, and he was happy to do as was told.

*            *            *

“Did you miss me?’ Viper stated, as she strutted back into the dining area. Her stature may have been tiny, but her ambitions were large, and she carried them on her shoulders.

“Good to see you again, sister,” Mirage replied.

This took Viper by surprise. She had called her “sister”, though, until now, she had never believed that Mirage had felt the same way. She even thought that she might be toying with her, but she would have sensed her, within her own mind, if that had been true. She had learned to sense the mind of her sister, when they had first met.

“If you are my sister, than you should join me.”

“And if you are my sister,” Mirage added, “you will not kill the man that I love.”

Now Viper could see where the witch was going with this. She was trying to create sympathy, not for the two of them, because they were together unique, but rather to prevent her from harming the last human that had been a part of her deep torment. She had some tricks of her own, and psychology was something that she understood very well.

“I will do no such thing, yet,” she stated, as she carefully walked over to the window, that had been carefully removed, and grabbed that glass of water that was sitting on the table, “until we have a moment to resolve some issues.”

At this, she threw the water at Ryan’s face, and he quickly became conscience once more, shaking the water from himself, as he found himself dangling, high above the Seattle skyline. Viper had never lost sight of Mirage, and she had not begun to approach her. Her heartbeat still placed her where she was standing, and she began to trust her, if only slightly.

After a brief struggle, before he regained his composure, and determined his situation, Ryan finally spoke.

“Anyone mind explaining why I am dangling out here?”

“Your princess has something to tell you,” Viper began to explain, without ever losing the gaze of Mirage’s eye, nor the sound of her beating heart. “She was about to tell you why she loves you, though is pregnant with a child, that is too far along to be yours.”

“You didn’t think that I would miss that smell upon you, when we first met, did you?” she asked, in the direction of Mirage.

She sat down near the window, seeming delighted to hear the explanation that might proceed. In fact, she was as curious, as she expected that he might be, and the answer must certainly be an interesting one. If nothing else, it might tear away the hold he had on her, and they could become the sisters that they were meant to be.

“It is true,” Sang began to explain, as she approached, “but not as she has made it sound. The child is yours.”

Viper’s expression seemed almost as puzzled as his did, so he asked the obvious question.

“How, when we haven’t actually… you know?”

Mirage stopped a short distance from Viper, for she knew better that to get too close to her.

“Do you recall that night on the island,” she asked, “and how you made love to me there?”

Certainly, he did. It was one of the most fondest memories of her, for the passion was overwhelming, but that didn’t change the fact that he was in a coma, at the time. Suddenly, a smile came over his face, and he could clearly see her begin to blush.

“You didn’t,” he spoke with a slight laugh.

“I did, my love,” she replied, with slight embarrassment, “yet our child develops faster than normal, because I am not normal.”

At this, the rage began to swell within Viper. Not only had she failed in driving a wedge between them, but she had done quite the opposite. She had inadvertently strengthened their bond, which left only one final solution. No more than one action made sense, anymore.

She launched herself from where she sat, knowing well that the witch would see it coming, but she did it anyway. Her fury would be more than Mirage could bare, or so she had hoped.

Viper's kick was swift to her face, but she found that her face was not where she had seen it, and then felt the leg sweep that knocked her to the floor. She used her hands to project her body, feet first, yet again, she hit what was not there, and this time, she felt a foot hit firmly against her face, and the force sent her tumbling backwards.